BILL ANALYSIS
By: Truitt
Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
The Health Professions Resource Center (HPRC), part of the Statewide Health Coordinating Council, collects data from approximately 30 licensing boards. HPRC uses this data to conduct studies on the state of healthcare in Texas today. However, many of these boards do not collect important data on race, ethnicity, gender, age, or practice address. As of 2005, HPRC did not have gender data on 20 of the 39 professions it tracked. CSHB 1056 requires HPRC to collect a minimum data set on certain health professionals that includes race, ethnicity, age, gender, and license and practice information. This will allow HPRC to more effectively track the diversity and composition of the healthcare profession as well as target underserved areas of Texas.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
This bill amends the Health and Safety Code to require the collection of information on certain health professionals licensed in Texas as part of the Statewide Health Coordinating Council's Minimum Data Set. The bill requires that the Minimum Data Set collected from each health professional covered by the Act include: full name and last four numbers of social security number; certification, registration, or licensure information; biographical information including sex, race or ethnicity, date and place of birth, and full primary mailing address; educational background; and practice information including specialties, additional practice other than primary specialty, practice locations, and hours. The bill also requires the state boards specified to collect the required information, and allows the boards to enter into an interagency contract with the Statewide Health Coordinating Council regarding the data collection.
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2007.
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE
The substitute adds language that specifies that the data collected by the Statewide Health Coordinating Council must include data on each professional licensed by the State Board of Dental Examiners, the Texas Medical Board, the Board of Nurse Examiners, the Texas Optometry Board, the Texas State Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners, the Texas State Board of Pharmacy, and the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists.
The substitute changes the bill as filed by removing language saying "board, agency, or association that certifies, registers, or licenses a health professional in this state" and adding in its place the following: "board described by Subsection (c)." Additionally, the substitute replaces the language "board, agency, or association" in the bill as filed with "board." These changes limit the data collection and interagency contracts regarding the data collection to only the boards specified in Subsection (c) rather than to all boards, agencies, or associations that license health professionals, as in the filed bill.